Hi everyone,

Here is the next chapter, its just a bit of filling but please comment and vote. I love feed back.

Mygypsy

Rosy

The ground is warm beneath my paws as I walk along the bush track. The land here isn't my land, it isn't my home, and it doesn't call to me like my mountain does. But it is familiar and friendly as I slow to sniff at some bushes. I swivel my ears listening to the other cats, some stop and wait for me, and others keep moving forward. I lift my head and look around with interest, we are in an enclosed pasture stocked with sheep and goats. I curl my top lip up as I suck in the air from a mid morning breeze, moisture rich scents hit my Jacobson's organ and I turn to face where the breeze is coming from. The rich grassy scent accompanies the distinctive aroma of wallaby dung and I glance towards Micah expectantly. Already he is following my lead and has his nose up sniffing the breeze, I wait expectantly but he lowers his head without any sign of having picked up on the scents.

A hiss and a flick of my tail give away my annoyance as I glide forward into a low stealthy stalk. The demand of the unborn kitts on my body fuels my need to hunt. I have spent the last weeks living between the Homestead and Jazzy's land. Now with Sasha coming into heat I am planning on persuading Micah to take me up onto my mountain on one or two single day trips before my rapidly advancing pregnancy makes it impossible to manage the climb up where I want to visit.

Micah moves past me as I pause to listen to the sounds around us, I press my ears back against my skull ready to lash out at his hindquarters but he has stopped as well. The way he swiftly drops down into a crouch tells me he is now aware of the wallabies I am hunting. I allow him to pull ahead as he moves forward stealthily, he has yet to fail to secure a kill to feed me. It's not long before Micah is standing over a dead wallaby calling me to come and eat. The meat is warm and still quivering with the last impulses of life as I expertly tear the skin and peel it back exposing the plump muscle so I can eat. I take hurried bites and it isn't long before my stomach is bloated with warm fresh meat, I move away from the remains leaving them for Micah before standing in the shade as I fastidiously clean all evidence of my meal off my fur.

Restlessness has me walking away as Micah is still eating and I lay my ears back with a hiss as Justin falls into step beside me. I don't go far before I bolt stretching my body out and race at full speed, the urge to loose my pursuers pushes me on and once outside the enclosed pasture I melt into the surrounding bush without a trace.

The cave like space at the base of an over turned stump in a large clump of lantana is as I left it the day before. The ground is covered in dry grass and I have scratched the few twigs and sticks to the outer edges of the bed I have made. I settle myself down and rest my chin on my front legs as I lay facing the tunnel into my lair. Birds have resumed their songs and chatter and I ignore the tiny wrens that flit in the tangle of brush surrounding me. The skin on my flank twitches as one of my unborn kitts moves restlessly. I turn my head and sniff at my side as my ears flick thoughtfully. Birds flit in alarm and a shadow darkens the end of the tunnel, I lay my ears back and curl my upper lip back in a silent snarl as I hear the sound of sniffing. Micah calls softly and I hear the faint sounds as he lies down outside guarding the entrance. A soft rasping purr starts and I close my eyes as I listen to him, I ease onto my side and stretch out as much as I can within the space. Yesterday when he had found me in my cave he had tried to join me inside but my inner cat had rebelled and I had met him with bared teeth and unsheathed claws.

Micah's insistent calls wake me and I lift my head with a start, I hadn't intended to fall asleep but with only five weeks until my due date I am finding myself

more and more uncomfortable making resting or sleeping nearly impossible at times. I make my way out of the tunnel and stand still allowing Micah to sniff me anxiously before I turn and head in the direction of the buildings.

Micah

I watch Rosy pacing restlessly beside the small stream where we often stop to drink. She has been spending more and more time in cat form and with only a day over three weeks until the kitts are due both Doc and Kia ring twice a day to check how Rosy is. She pauses in her pacing and I walk over to her to rub my head against her shoulder. Rosy lies down on her stomach with a throaty purr and I move to stand over her as I rub the sides of my face on both sides of her neck and shoulders. I continue to lavish affection on my wife, my mate. Rubbing my scent glands and face on her soon isn't enough and I grasp the scruff of her neck firmly between my teeth as I move to straddle her body.

I am cautious and tense, ready to stop at the first hint of her displeasure or annoyance but Rosy lowers her head and makes soft encouraging sounds. My body rubs against hers, loud purrs coming from both of us. I ease my grip on her neck and Rosy turns her head, ears back and canines exposed. I freeze immediately but Rosy wriggles beneath me, it's not an attempt to escape what I am doing or me. Hesitantly I resume rubbing against her body, my grasp on her neck slips and instead of menacing me with her exposed fangs she turns her head this way and that as if showing her weapons to the surrounding bush.

There is silence except for the call of small wrens in a near by bush and the thunder of my heart beat in my ears as I settle on my side beside her. Rosy eyes me for a moment before rolling onto her back, her head turned to watch me while all four legs stick up in the air. I listen to her purring, something deep inside me tells me this is her cats song of love to me. I close my eyes and listen, trying to decipher the words. I don't know how long we stay in this spot but it does involve another two bouts of me lavishing affection on Rosy. This has become almost a daily routine for us, but to call it a routine leaves out all the affection and deep connection that is between us. When Rosy returns to our kill for a second feed I sit up and watch her eat. She slides glances at me from the corner of her eye, ears back and threatening snarls as she lifts her head to eat meat she has chewed free from the carcase. I look away, I know her behaviour is driven by her bodies need to provide for her unborn kitts. We have spoken about her behaviour while she has been in human form, she knows why her cat behaves in certain ways but when she is in cat form its emotions and needs take control.

When Rosy moves away from the scraps of the kill she doesn't head for our resting place, instead she turns towards the bush and quickly disappears in the under growth like a shadow. I get to my feet and follow her taking care not to get too close, I know where she is going. I reach the lantana thicket just in time to see the last half of her tail disappearing into the tunnel. I stretch my neck forward and give a low deep rumble before settling down on a thick soft patch of grass near by. I face the place she will emerge from when she has slept off her latest feed, this has become a habit in the last week and I know she will come out when she has woken.

The sky is dark with rain heavy clouds when Rosy finally emerges from her den, she pauses as she stretches before lifting her nose to she scent the air. She barely spares me a glance before she turns towards the general direction of the buildings. I give the low hanging clouds one last glance before turning and following her. Rosy alternates between a fast walk and a steady trot on the way home but the rain still

catches us before we reach the cleared grounds of the buildings. I give a couple of loud roars as I follow Rosy out of the trees, she has broken into a lope, her ears turned back and head slightly lowered as she runs into the steady down pour. Both of us shake well before walking through the screen door Steven holds open for us and Rosy immediately begins to change back to human form. I take a deep breath and follow her example.

I find Rosy in the over sized shower room that was added to the Quarters during the time we had lived at the Homestead before her accident. I pause outside the shower to watch as she stood under the stream of warm water, I couldn't get enough of the sight of her heavily pregnant body. I remember how Jazzy had complained that she had felt she had become fat and unattractive during her own pregnancy, the complaints about various aches and pains and constant discomfort during the last month before Cameron had been born. I hadn't been here when Jazzy gave birth to Cameron but the toms whispered and shuddered whenever it was mentioned so I wasn't looking forward to watching my wife go through the agony of giving birth.

"Are you going to stand there letting the cold in or are you going to join me in here?" Rosy's words startle me and I lift my gaze from where our kitts are growing to meet her gaze.

"Just enjoying the view," I say gruffly before closing the door behind me as I move into the room and join her under the spray of water.

I reach for the soap and work a thick lather up on my hands before I take my time running my hands over her shoulders and back. Always I stretch this out as long as I can, not knowing who enjoys this contact more, Rosy or me. When we finally turn off the water and step from the shower I wrap a soft thick towel around Rosy before giving myself a quick dry with a towel. I would happily carry my wife to our room but Rosy tells me being carried is uncomfortable at this stage of her pregnancy so I content myself with holding one of her hands as she leads the way. I pull on a pair of boxers while Rosy slips into an old t-shirt of mine before crawling into the middle of the bed and propping herself up on pillows as she leans against the headboard.

"Pass me Jeddah's book please," Rosy asks as she gives a little wriggle settling herself into the pillows.

I retrieve the book from the shelf where it sits wrapped in a clothe safely out of reach of the boys if they venture in here. I hand it to Rosy before stretching out on the bed beside her and making myself comfortable. I lay on my side with one hand resting against her stomach, after a few minutes which ever kitt is beneath my hand moves in a gentle rolling motion and I smile as I glance up at Rosy's face.

"They very active today?" I ask quietly.

"They were sleeping until you started poking that one," Rosy says. I am about to tell her I was not 'poking' the kitt when she gives a soft chuckle and rubs the other side of her stomach.

"That one just jabbed its fellow inmate in the ribs and woke it up as well," Rosy says as she carefully rewraps the book and places it on the far edge of the bed before rolling to face me. My hand that was on her side is trapped between the mattress and her side while she reaches for my other hand and moves it to where she had her own hand. I hold my breath and after a few moments Rosy moves my hand and I feel the hard little knob of a foot or an elbow as it presses up against my palm. I glance up at Rosy's face, she is watching where she holds my hand against her stomach. I stay there with my hand on her stomach feeling the lives we created moving within their safe harbour, gradually their movements become fainter and further apart. I glance at Rosy's face and see the way she blink slowly, her eyes

staying closed longer and longer each time. Carefully I ease my hand from beneath her side and reach for the soft blanket at the foot of the bed to cover her up, tucking it in around her shoulders. A murmur escapes her and I watch as my wife snuggles down into the pillows and blanket. She is still slightly propped up but I don't worry about that, Rosy has told me that the weight of the kitts makes it harder to breathe if she lies flat or on her back. I ease from the bed and watch her for several minutes to make sure she isn't going to wake up before walking quietly from the room so she can rest without me accidentally waking her up.

"Celeste just rang to tell me her and Caleb Donnelly have set a date to be married," Steven says as he walks into the lounge room. I look up from where I sit on the floor with Terry, Dacey, Wynn and Kali as they play with toy cars and trucks. Kali has a sports car in her hand, aeroplane like noises comes from her pursed lips and she moves the car around in the air as if it is a plane while the boys protest that it is a car not an aeroplane.

"That's a bit of a surprise isn't it?" I ask as I get to my feet. "Didn't they only start seeing each other a month ago?"

I sense Steven's need to talk about this development and I glance at my children where they are playing happily. I head into the kitchen to make them all a final drink for the night before they are put to bed. Steven helps me with the routine of making their drinks and I realise how much I have missed our friendship as I listen to him voicing his concerns over his sister's sudden engagement.

"Rosy gone to bed?" Steven says. "Who will be the most relieved when the kitts are born? Her to be free of the burden or you to have a wife who does more than eat, stay awake half an hour and sleep?"

I glance at him and he gives me a rueful smile, I shrug and glance into the lounge room where Kali is giggling and I am not surprised to see all three boys playing the fool for her.

"The twins can stay where they are as long as they can," I say as I shake my head before nodding towards the ruckus in the lounge room. "Those are a big enough handful as it is."

"Well the twins will be able to join forces with the boys and help keep that little hoyden in line," Steven laughs at Kali's antics. I have to smile at the image in my mind of Kali holding her own against five brothers, not only holding her own but getting the better of them.

While Steven gives Kali and the boys their drinks I go and check to see if Rosy is still awake so she can say goodnight. I find her in the spare room that had been turned into a cage back while she was pregnant with Wynn, she is looking through her belongings that had been stored there ever since they had been collected from the house she had lived in near Steven's brother Pete.

"Want to come say good night to the kids?" I ask quietly.

Rosy turns with a frown but nods and moves towards the doorway. The boys are quick to line up for a kiss and cuddle goodnight but Kali is reluctant to be hugged. The nights Rosy has stayed here I have kept Kali in the Quarters with us hoping the two would grow closer. Kali no longer reacts so strongly to Rosy but she doesn't interact with her like she does with the boys and I. We get the little ones ready for bed and settle them in the sleepout on mattresses, with them settled we move away to let them go to sleep.

"I'm going to have a shower," Rosy says quietly.

"Your back giving you trouble?" I ask. Kia had explained how the extra weight of two unborn kitts was the cause of all the back pain Rosy had been having.

"A bit," Rosy admits reluctantly. "Mainly I am just hoping a good hot shower will let me get comfortable and relaxed so I can sleep."

"Want your back washed?" I offer only to get a low growl in reply. I don't say anything as Rosy heads for the shower room but I do take the time to go to my room and turn the sheet and blanket down for Rosy.

"How about a beer?" Steven asks. I give a nod and head out to the lounge room while Steven heads to the kitchen to grab a couple of cans of beer.

"I cold," Wynn mumbles from the doorway interrupting our second beer and the action movie we are watching. I reach for the remote control to pause the movie but Steven is already on his feet.

"I got this, gotta see a man about a dog anyway," Steven says as he heads for the doorway. "Hey Bruiser, did you kick your blankets off again?" Steven's voice fades away as he moves out of the room.

"It's a wonder Kali didn't come out as well as Wynn," Justin says. "She is always sneaking out to get you to tuck her in a second or third time,"

I laugh as I shake my head ruefully, Kali certainly is a handful and keeps everyone on their toes. The sound of quick footsteps has me glancing towards the doorway expecting to see Kali sneaking out to me with Steven close on her heels.

"Micah! Rosy ..." Steven says urgently as steps into view, a strange mixture of excitement and unease on his face.